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TEHRAN, Feb 21 - UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid has defended his decision to strip Shamima Begum’s British citizenship because of her affiliation to the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group in Syria.
TEHRAN, Young Journalists Club (YJC) - "I'm not going to talk about an individual, but I can be clear on the point that I would not take a decision and I believe none of my predecessors ever have taken a decision that at the point the decision is taken would leave that individual stateless,” Javid told ITV’s Robert Peston.
"My number one job is to do whatever I can to keep this country safe and I admit that sometimes when you make these decisions they are not easy decisions.
British media said on Wednesday that Javid had signed a letter to Begum’s family in London telling them that the girl’s citizenship had been revoked because she fought along the ranks of Daesh since she traveled to Syria four years ago.
The decision, which was a first of its kind, sparked widespread controversy as the young woman had become effectively stateless in a clear breach of international law.
Authorities in Bangladesh, the country where Begum’s mother was born, said Wednesday that the girl had not been registered in the country as a citizen and would not be allowed to do so in the future.
Javid apparently made the initial decision on Begum’s case under immense media pressure which depicted the woman as a serious threat to Britain’s security once she returned home.
Corbyn wants Begum back home
The leader of the opposition Labour Party also threw his weight behind Begum’s case, saying on Thursday that the woman, who has lost two of her children in Syria, should be back in Britain to stand prosecution.
“Because she was born in Britain she has that right to remain in Britain and obviously there are a lot of questions she has to answer,” said Jeremy Corbyn, adding, “She obviously has, in my view, a right to return to Britain.”
Corbyn also slammed Javid for his decision to revoke Begum’s British passport, saying the move was “very extreme”.
Javid’s new remarks on the case came as report had suggested that dozen more British nationals had joined Begum in the Syrian camp. Those reports seem to have complicated the situation for the government as revoking the citizenship of all of those nationals would lead to serious domestic and international controversy for Britain.
Hundreds of UK nationals joined Daesh and other terrorist groups in Iraq and Syria since conflicts erupted in the two Arab countries several years ago. The Conservative government has repeatedly been criticized for its lax controls that allowed those nationals, many of them teenagers, to be radicalized and leave the country to join the Takfiri terrorists.
Source: Press TV
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